The Tennant
by Zitronenbonbon
Summary: Ianto feels lonesome after Lisa's death. He decides to take in a lodger to make his former intended family home a bit more lively. But there is something strange about the new tenant and especially about Jack's reaction to him  Rated T for chap 2 possibly
1. Chapter 1

Just a silly play with words. I got the idea for the story when reading The Tenant by believable-pen. It's really worth R&R!

Neither Dr Who nor Torchwood belong to me. No money made out of it and no rights violation intended.

The story takes place sometime during TW Season 2 after "the year that never was". Normally I try to keep to canon but in this case I had to alter it a bit. Don't wonder about The Doctor neither knowing Ianto nor knowing about Torchwood III around the corner and who runs it.

Ianto Jones feels lonesome after Lisa's death. He decides to take in a lodger to make his former intended family home a bit more lively. But there is something strange about the new tenant and especially about Jack's reaction to him…

The Ten(n)ant.

Ianto sight when he opened the door to his flat. This place was far too big for just one person. He had intended to live here with Lisa one day. He always had hoped to find a cure for her partly cyber-converted body. To make her human again. After her death he couldn't bring himself to sell the flat and move to a new place. Jack and the team had often tried to make him because they saw how the place tore him down. But thinking of Lisa and the future they could have had kept him to the flat.

It was Friday night and a whole lonesome weekend laid before him. Jack had given the team off and went to spend some time with a woman called Alice. Nobody knew who she was but Jack mentioned her once in a while. But thinking of Jack dating someone else didn't make Ianto feeling any better at all. Neither did to brood over the character of the relationship he kind of had with his boss.

After making a pot of tea – although he was a master in making coffee he never really could understand what people liked about it – he sat down on the sofa and tried to relax with some old Jazz records his dad had listened to in the early days when Ianto still got on with him well.

Suzie had told him once that her sister took in a lodger after her husbands death to keep the mortgage going and to have some company. "Could that be a solution?" Ianto asked himself quietly. The newspaper had rental ads in the Saturday's issue. As always Ianto had already picked up his weekend copy from the old man at the station who sold tomorrows issue on his way home. He flicked through the pages and read through some of the ads.

_Male, 36, new to Cardiff is looking for a flat share or room as a lodger in central Cardiff for at least 6 months. Fully employed. Contact John S. under 0770 347 299 05._

Somehow Ianto got drawn to this short ad. Maybe he should have a go and see if John was a nice guy. Anything that kept him from being lonesome would do at the moment.

After just a few rings John picked up the phone.

"Hey, this is Ianto Jones speaking. I read your add and wanted to ask if you're still looking for a flat share. I got a spare bedroom. Ok, I'm in tonight, if you wanna just pop by. It's right at the bay. The new flats. Third entrance top floor. See you later."

"That was quick" Ianto thought. He looked round the ever tidy living room and got up to let some air into the spare bedroom. Now he was glad that he never had found the time to convert it into a baby's paradise in some sentimental and hopeful moment. He'd need to buy a bed and maybe a desk if he wanted to rent it out since the only thing in here where an old sofa, the laundry rack and the ironing board. He would have to find a new place for that but if he really found company that would be a quite small sacrifice.

Not too long after the call the doorbell rang and a skinny man with a wild grin introduced himself as John Smith. He was taller than Ianto and wore a brown suit with a tie that looked just a little bit cheeky and a long beige coat. Ianto raised his eyebrow just a bit and thought that the coat must be good sign. Somehow he found coats appealing.

John turned out to be quite nice, witty and smart and after checking the credits, Ianto and John agreed on the rent. John moved in the next day. He didn't bring along much – "bit of a travelling hermit" – John had said about himself.

They got on really well although John always kept being kind of a mystery to Ianto. After travelling a lot John was apparently now working as an astrophysicist at the University of Wales as a research fellow. But that was basically all Ianto knew about his new lodger. He was polite most of the time, kept a lot to himself and didn't ask about Ianto's job, what was quite relieving to the Welshmen. He never had any problems to keep his work for Torchwood secret but it wasn't exactly helpful if you wanted to lead a normal life with social contacts either. He even had to lie to his sister and her family and they were the only relatives he had left.

It was only a few months later when Ianto found out whom he really had let into his life…

Tbc

Please review! It's my first TW ff and English is not my first language, so please be patient ;-)

The second chapter is in progress might update it next week.


	2. Chapter 2

Wanted to include "I'm Captain Jack Harkness and WHO are you?" but it didn't fit in because of well known reasons – Jack being slightly distracted and of course him knowing The Doctor.

For the first time in months – Owen kept saying for the first time ever – Ianto seemed to be happy. When he walked into the Hub in the morning he was smiling and had started to go to the pub with the team more frequently. Also it hardly happened that Jack had to send him home long after hours to make sure his employee got some restful sleep in his own bed. Nights tended to be short and exhausting if Ianto stayed over. Not that Jack minded but he didn't need much sleep…

The Captain was not sure if we was glad Ianto seemed to have recovered from the loss earlier this year and got happier or if he was jealous that Ianto spent less time in the Hub and more at home or going out with the team and the mysterious lodger John, he had taken in a while back.

"Ianto" Jack shouted from the balcony down to the workstations. "Can you come to my office?" "Sure, sir." Ianto answered and walked up the stairs. "What is it I can do for you, sir?" he asked after he had closed the door. Jack looked up from the files he was reading and gave his friend a close look.

"I have heard about a new curry house downtown. People say the curry is so good it can't be from this world. Mind investigating a bit further? Tonight 8p.m.?" Jack asked with a light smug grin on his face. If Ianto wouldn't have known every expression so well he might not even have noticed.

"A date then." He thought to himself suppressing a smile. Didn't happen too often that his boss got romantic and took him for dinner. Most of the time Jack was waiting for him in some dark corner in the archives just outside the CCTV range or cited him to his office with fake orders. Ianto was never sure if this was really a relationship or if Jack just needed someone once in a while. Not that the American seemed to be a relationship kind of guy or even was interested in Ianto in particular. Once in a while Ianto overheard something Jack said to Gwen or he found the two of them somewhere in the Hub acting like guilty little children when he walked into the room. Then there was this John Hart and mysterious Alice… Good that Ianto was not gay and that it was just casual sex he and John shared. At least that was what he kept telling himself.

Ianto pulled himself together before his absentmindedness got too obvious. "Right, sir. 8 p.m." he said and walked out of the room.

He made a short stop at his flat on the way to the restaurant to change into a nice dark suit and a red shirt. John had pinned him a note to the fridge saying that he would not be in tonight and Ianto did not have to wait. They usually took a drink in the evenings and talked about this and that when Ianto did not have to work late. He would have the run of the house the Welshman thought and hoped he could convince Jack not to go back to the Hub for once. Jack was not exactly the homely guy and preferred office to a more intimate place. Ianto on the other hand enjoyed the times when the team had to stay the night in a hotel when investigating in Northern Wales or England.

His mind got drawn away by the memory of the last time a few weeks ago when they had hunted a Bategrogian couplet who tried to take over a slate mine in Bleanau Ffestiniog and build up a base to breed a new invasion army. They had comfy beds in The Queen's Hotel directly by the train station – Inato was a passionate train spotter since his early childhood and Jack knew exactly what to make out of that information….

Ianto shook his head to get rid of the thought. He needed a clear head if he really wanted some dinner. Jack tended to distract him before they started eating and made it hard to concentrate and not just wanting to get back to the Hub or elsewhere as quick as possible.

Jack was waiting in front of the curry house when Ianto arrived just in time. It was a nice place overlooking the bay and the menu on the door looked promising.

They sat down to a table next to the windows and ordered. Very hot for Jack and mild and fruity for Ianto.

"Ianto, you seem to be quite happy these days" Jack started the conversation in a light tone but Ianto knew his boss to well to overhear that there was more behind it than anyone else would notice. He looked at Jack intensely. "That's 'cause I am, sir."

"Leave the sir thing, Ianto. I'm just wondering and a bit worried to be honest."

Worried? Jack? About him being happy? Now that's gonna be interesting. "Why? The coffee boy is happy so there has to be something wrong with him?" the answer came out a bit sharper than Ianto had intended.

"That's not what I meant and you know that!" Jack had switched into defence mode, something he did not do very often.

"What's the problem then?" Ianto asked. "I finally decided to move on after Lisa. That's what you always said you wanted. I tell you what it is: I finally have a life outside work and that is bothering you. Gwen is not the only one who can do that. But maybe you are worried that after you couldn't get a grip on her because of that, you are loosing control over me, too?" Ianto could see in Jack's eyes that his words had hurt him and he almost felt sorry about that. But he was fed up to feel like a toy boy, too, not knowing what Jack's intentions really where.

Jack looked down at his curry and seemed to gather his thoughts.

"You could say that." Jack answered in a low voice. "But it is not because I would loose control over a toy boy if you think that – "as if he had read my mind" Ianto thought – I'm not like that. Not all the time, at least." Jack tried a little smile. "But because I really care about you. More than about any other of the team and I enjoy your company. I'm just afraid of loosing you as a friend and … as a partner."

Jack looked directly into Ianto's eyes which where growing bigger at that revelation. He had never thought Jack had feelings for him other than the fun factor chasing him in naked hide and seek and the reward for winning afterwards. It flattered him that Jack did. He was not entirely sure he wanted it, though. Did that make him gay? What would a relationship to a man be like?

"Jack, I don't know what to say… I mean, are you telling me you love me or something?"

Jack sighed and rubbed his hands over his face. Obviously it was hard for him to speak about that, too.

"I think I do, Ianto. It drives me crazy to see you going home to this John guy and smiling. Happily telling me about going fishing and cooking and what else you two are up to on the weekends. You could say I'm jealous." Jack had a slightly embarrassed expression as if he feared that Ianto would just stand up and walk out on him any minute.

But he didn't. Of course he did not. How could he? He loved the man in front of him far too much to even think about it. It wasn't men in general, it was just Jack.

Ianto gripped Jack's hand and squeezed it lightly. "Don't worry." Ianto smiled.

There was nothing else to be said about it and the couple enjoyed dinner discussing a few cases from this weeks agenda. When they had paid, Ianto took Jack for a walk around the bay and guided him to his flat almost by "accident".

"Here we are then. Wanna come up for a coffee or something?" Ianto asked lightly.

Of course Jack wanted and soon the alibi coffee was forgotten on the coffee table…

Neither of them heard the door and neither did notice the man that entered the living room.

"What the…? Oh no, do I EVER find you doing something else, Jack?" John's face mirrored a mixture between disgust and bemusement.

Jack and Ianto shot from the sofa with a start.

While Ianto tried to cover up as good as possible and his face turned a dark shade of purple. Jack recovered much quicker and said "Hello Doctor! You here?" he shot a puzzled look at both men.

Ianto, who had, too, recovered from the first shock and not really listened to what Jack had said, made an attempt of introducing his boss to his flatmate.

"John, that's Captain Jack Harkness. My boss. Jack, that's Dr John Smith. My flatmate." Slowly the words Jack had said earlier came to his mind. "Hold on! Doctor? Jack? Do you know each other?" now it was Inato's turn to look puzzled.

So that's chapter two.

Next time Ianto will find out who his flatmate really is :-)

R&R please!


	3. Chapter 3

First of all I'd really like to thank you all for the reviews and the story alerts! Great to see that you guys really like it.

Although I have to say that I haven't been updating chapter 3 because I don't quite like it yet. Don't see where this is leading to. Just intended the story to be a one shot… So maybe just one more chapter at the Hub.

Not quite happy but I'll let you decide if it is any good. Keep on reviewing please.

Maruman: German

John walked out of the room to give Jack and Ianto some time to recover from the shock and getting dressed. When he came back into the living room he brought a bottle from Ianto's Whiskey collection and three glasses with him. They settled down on the sofa and stared at each other. It was Jack, of course, to get over the slight embarrassment that hang in the room like mist first.

"Didn't expect you here, Doctor" he said, raising his glass in John's direction.

"Cardiff is a kind of pit stop, remember?" The Doctor answered. Looking over to his flatmate who still looked confused. Did he know whom he shared bed with? Probably not and probably he was not into men at all. Thinking about the effect 51st century pheromones did have on at least two third of the humanoid life forms in space and about one third of the others including Gelth and some fishlooking species in the outer arms of the galaxy.

"Would anyone care to explain what's going on?" Ianto asked a bit angrily. It drove him crazy that he knew so little about his lover and now it turned out that even his flatmate was familiar with Jack. "Seems to be dating the whole planet…" Ianto frowned at this thought.

"Remember me talking about finding the right doctor before I left last year?" Jack started "That's him, that's The Doctor." "What are you doing here, Doctor? I mean in this flat? Little blue box grown too small for you?" he asked in John's direction.

"TARDIS needs some refurbishment since The Master cannibalized it. It's not a nice place to live in at the moment. She is healing and that means an awful lot of rift energy drifting through her. Absorbed too much of it once, not keen on doing it again. Although it was well worth it at that time as you know…"

"Hold on. Rift energy? Jack what's going on? Tell me!" Ianto now was really angry. A state Jack quite enjoyed normally but with The Doctor around it wouldn't be much fun. His old friend was just too prudish.

"He is a time traveller, like me, Ianto." "Well not quite like him…" John wanted to interrupt but Jack cut him short. "I was travelling with him for a while and last year, when I went away, I was looking for him. Hoping he could fix my immortality. It happened when I last saw him and I thought he could do something about it."

"How comes you tell humans about who you really are, Jack Harkness?" The Doctor asked suspiciously. "In the past you tended to blend in."

"The 21st century is when everything changes. People are more aware of things nowadays, Doctor. Besides, Ianto is not just a random human. He is part of my team. I guess he is very good in keeping secrets when you didn't work out whom he is working for although you seem to spend a lot of time together." A hint of jealousy covered Jacks eyes just for a second.

"Hold on" Ianto said "The Doctor, TARDIS, time traveller. This is not THE Doctor, Jack, is he? The number one enemy of Torchwood one?"

"Jep, that would be me" the Doctor answered "but how would you know about Torchwood? Jack what's going on?"

"That's what we are, Doctor. Torchwood. I rebuilt the institution after the battle of Canary Wharf. Now we are fighting the real enemies, you're not on the list, if you don't mind." Jack winked an eye at his old friend. "And Ianto is on the team. He worked for Torchwood one, too, back in London."

"I just came across you when I was classifying old files in the archives a few weeks ago." Ianto now explained how he would know about The Doctor although Jack never had mentioned him in combination with Torchwood's work.

"I'm not sure I can let you play around with alien technology, Jack. The fate of the human race in the hands of a con man?" The Doctor looked worried.

"You still don't trust me Doctor, do you? After all we've been through together you still believe I haven't changed since 1942? We saved the world together not just once and you still think I would endanger the planet?" Jack was used to being confronted with his dubious past but he somehow didn't want Ianto to think badly about him. There was so much he didn't have told his team yet. His friend wasn't an exception although he was much closer to him than anybody else.

"Jack," Ianto said in a firm voice "I really don't know if I want to know what he is talking about. But I would appreciate it if you could, for once, be less secretive about you and explain it in more detail than usual. But not now and not here. I'd recommend meeting with the team. This seems to be of an interest to us all. I'm going to bed – alone." he said with a sharp look on Jack before he would make just the slightest attempt to follow him. "CU at the Hub tomorrow."

Ianto was hurt. He just had had the feeling he was getting to know his friend, his love and now yet another hint of dark secrets came to the surface. He felt betrayed by his old and his new friend even though he of course knew it was just a funny coincidence. But still...

Ianto didn't sleep much that night and for the first time since he had let John into his life he felt lonely again.

OK, so that's chapter 3.

Poor little Ianto. He is not meant to be happy, is he?

R&R please cause at the moment the story is not flowing as I had intended it to. Maybe you could help?

"I saved his girlfriend - sorry companion – from a barrage balloon hanging over London in the middle of a German air-raid in World War II. That's how we met.


End file.
